This review contains spoilers
In the many years I’ve played video games, I’ve noticed that I’ve always liked the…….weirder or divisive sequels more than their less divisive and more critically acclaimed predecessors.
MGS 1 and MGS 3 are perfect bond like action games with a simpler but in many ways complex story, they are simply phenomenal games, however, MGS 2 and MGS 5, the (timeline order) sequels to the former and the latter, are far more weird and overall considered divisive (more so in the case of MGS 5) than their predecessors……….but I still love these two more.
The Last of Us 1 is one of gaming’s true perfect stories, a perfectly paced emotional adventure that almost anyone can enjoy, however, the sequel is far more divisive and generally hated by a lot of people……..yet me and all my insanity love it a hell of a lot more.
Ocarina of Time is a perfectly paced adventure, treating us to the true whimsical beauty of what the Zelda series truly is…….and yet, the much weirder, much MUCH darker sequel I vastly prefer.
Majora’s Mask by all means should’ve been a failure, the game only had one year in development and reused a lot of assets from OOT, most games with that short of a development time are either broken buggy messes or just plain uninteresting, and reused assets can always make a game just not stand out from its predecessor.
The game had many experimental ideas going in, and since there was no time to question anything, they went all in with every idea, by all accounts, this game should’ve been a disaster……….but, Eiji Aonuma and the rest of the team behind the game tapped into something magnificent, in letting the game take its own form, the game truly became something unique, something awe-inspiring, something bizarre, and something very……VERY dark.
The game immediately opens with a bleaker scene than the rest of the series, instead of a great tale being told or a charming little intro in the opening area, it begins with Link getting knocked out, robbed by skull kid, falling into a very big tree, and being painfully transformed into a deku scrub.
Once the game takes off, it doesn’t really stop with its overall bleak atmosphere, you’ll find people in trouble or in pain all across termina, most of it skull kid inflicted.
The story and structure of this game are very much different compared to the rest of the series, the way the game uses the 3 day cycle is really good, it basically causes you to plan your every move, and execute it all in a timely manner, the cycle never feels too long or too short. The game uses this greatly with its story, while it is a lot simpler in premise compared to OOT, but it uses this simplicity to flesh out the world, the characters, and the side quests.
Speaking of the side quests, this game definitely has the overall best in the series, the amount of great stuff you can do off to the side is just incredible, Romani ranch and the Anju and Kafei quests are the highlights, I can almost say it’s just necessary to do them when playing this game, and thanks to the notebook, you can keep track of every character’s schedules, which greatly adds to the whole planning and three day cycle routine. These side quests also really help flesh out the world, and what a world it is.
Termina is a far greater overworld than the ones most of the other games have, it’s not too big so it’s easy to travel around and comes packed with a lot of content, I also lobe how unique each section is compared to other Zelda games, the swamp takes elements from kokiri forest but it builds on them and does a lot of things on its own, snowhead is probably the only big mountain area in the series that doesn’t include a volcano, great bay is fun to swim around in with the Zora mask, and ikana canyon is one of my favorite locations in the entire series, the dark atmosphere, tone, the music, all are wonderfully dead.
I have been forgetting to mention it in my other reviews, but the soundtrack in this series is phenomenal, and even better in this game. Let me talk about a few of these tracks, starting with the clock town theme, on the first day, the music is more festive, not a care in the world that a moon is hurdling towards earth, it’s very much a warm welcome in the form or music, the second day is more laid back, being more relaxed and less festive, and it even has a tiny hint of worry, now it feels like the moon is noticed but only thought about a little, the third day however is far more sinister, the music is fast and kinda messy, it’s like the music is freaking out and panicking, along with it is some evil sounding synths playing in the background, all throughout the day, the moon has definitely been noticed by now, and of course, the final hours, my god that score is a 10/10, it truly feels hopeless, you’re not panicking anymore, you’re just accepting fate, it is masterful. I’d also like to talk about the individual area themes, all of them are kinda the same, but many different sounds and notes make them all feel different, the swamp has a more serene feel, you kinda feel gross listening to it, perfectly representing the poisoned swamps, the mountains are more tame, and feel more winter like, obviously representing the frozen mountains, the great bay feels far more tropical, but like, tropical while a thunderstorm is fucking up the area, which obviously represents the polluted waters, then you have ikana canyon, my god, every single little note in this version has been made far more haunting than the ones before, then once the main chorus comes on, it truly feels dead and lifeless (in a good way obviously), but even through all the dreariness you hear little notes of Romani/Malon’s singing, representing the little hope that is still left with the girl and her father there…….what a pleasant area :). One last song I’d like to mention is the song of healing, it’s a simple short track that kinda perfectly represents what this game is, it’s a somber tune, one that’s very sad sounding, which makes sense considering what it’s used for.
Alright let’s talk about all the dark shit, how about Epona being dead, oh you think Epona’s fine? Skull kid simply put her in Romani ranch, a loving home for a horse? NOPE, Skull kid 100% killed the real Epona and the one you see later is just the termina counterpart, I know it’s a theory technically but the fact the game STARTS OFF with this is crazy, and it doesn’t stop there, Southern swamp? FUCKING POTENTIAL WAR, Snowpeak? ICE AGE, great bay? POLLUTED AND BABIES THAT HAVE BEEN KIDNAPPED, ikana canyon? THE DEAD CAN’T REST.
What I’m basically saying is there’s tons of dark stuff all throughout the game, but the most impressive part is how the game balances them extremely well and it never really feels like it’s in your face, the game just has a natural way of delivering it, in fact let’s go over a few of my favorite dark moments from this game.
The implication and realization of the deku butler’s son, unlike everything else in the game, he’s the one thing you can’t save.
“They” from Romani Ranch, a completely unexplainable enemy in the series, it’s especially fucked up what they potentially do to Romani, part of me wants to know what they did but a bigger part of me never even wants to think about it.
The little girl and her father in ikana canyon, both of them alone and afraid, completely surrounded by the dead as one of them is slowly turning into one of the monsters outside.
There is more, but I’ve gone on long enough.
I think what balances all the darkness out is that, you can help almost everyone in this game, you can cure the poison of the swamp and stop the war, you can bring spring back to snowhead, you can bring clean waters and rescue the babies in great bay, you can lay the dead to rest in ikana canyon, you can protect the ranch from “them”, you can save the girl’s father in ikana, you can do almost everything………..but, no matter what victory you achieve, what life you save, you’re always reminded of one constant thing no matter where you are at in the world, all you need to do is look at the bottom of the screen, or hear the bells of the clock tower, or of course, look up, and you’ll see it.
The moon, the end of the world, the fate that you must stop in order to save everyone, no one will truly be safe unless you stop this thing from hurdling towards termina, and the game makes you just feel helpless against it for like 90% of the game, always turning back time any time it gets close to those final hours…………..until you play a certain song, an oath to order.
This is one of my favorite scenes in not only this entire series, but in video games in general, the camera shows us the moon hurdling towards termina, hopeless as it has been the rest of the game………….then a somberly triumphant theme starts playing, it swells up as one giant appears, then two, then three, then four, and finally, once they’re all there, they put their full power and strength into holding the moon, and after a struggle………….it stops, the one threat that has been haunting you throughout every mission………stopped……….OR SO YOU THINK.
Majora’s Mask is its own being bitch, it flies up into the moon and then the moon starts moving again, but you triumphantly step into the moon, no more will you hide from this mask, you take the fight DIRECTLY TO ITS BASE, DIRECTLY TO THE………the………nice tree and open field?
I’m gonna admit, I obviously didn’t get this on my original playthrough, and I still don’t know now……….anyways, this leads to a final battle with the mask itself, and the fight is pretty fun, I mean it’s not ganondorf in OOT and the fight is basically trivialized by the fierce deity’s mask, but it’s a cool fight, the game isn’t really too strong in the boss department, everything else is just so spectacular that the boss aspect kinda falters.
After beating Majora, the moon disappears into the sky, the giants leave, and everyone celebrates.
It’s a dawn of a new day.
Link leaves termina as everyone there celebrates, including many musical performances, a fun time at the carnival, and of course, a wedding……….link is last seen in the lost woods, and finally continues off to find his old friend……………and he’s sadly never seen again.
And that is Majora’s Mask, a far more unique game than most, it was really fun to replay, and it’s still just as mesmerizing and beautifully dark as I remember, I hope one day I can write a longer and more in-depth review than this one, cause this game is just so good, it’s one of my two favorite Zelda games, and the other one? Well…
Next up is Wind Waker, very excited to replay this one, I just adore the art style so much man.
MGS 1 and MGS 3 are perfect bond like action games with a simpler but in many ways complex story, they are simply phenomenal games, however, MGS 2 and MGS 5, the (timeline order) sequels to the former and the latter, are far more weird and overall considered divisive (more so in the case of MGS 5) than their predecessors……….but I still love these two more.
The Last of Us 1 is one of gaming’s true perfect stories, a perfectly paced emotional adventure that almost anyone can enjoy, however, the sequel is far more divisive and generally hated by a lot of people……..yet me and all my insanity love it a hell of a lot more.
Ocarina of Time is a perfectly paced adventure, treating us to the true whimsical beauty of what the Zelda series truly is…….and yet, the much weirder, much MUCH darker sequel I vastly prefer.
Majora’s Mask by all means should’ve been a failure, the game only had one year in development and reused a lot of assets from OOT, most games with that short of a development time are either broken buggy messes or just plain uninteresting, and reused assets can always make a game just not stand out from its predecessor.
The game had many experimental ideas going in, and since there was no time to question anything, they went all in with every idea, by all accounts, this game should’ve been a disaster……….but, Eiji Aonuma and the rest of the team behind the game tapped into something magnificent, in letting the game take its own form, the game truly became something unique, something awe-inspiring, something bizarre, and something very……VERY dark.
The game immediately opens with a bleaker scene than the rest of the series, instead of a great tale being told or a charming little intro in the opening area, it begins with Link getting knocked out, robbed by skull kid, falling into a very big tree, and being painfully transformed into a deku scrub.
Once the game takes off, it doesn’t really stop with its overall bleak atmosphere, you’ll find people in trouble or in pain all across termina, most of it skull kid inflicted.
The story and structure of this game are very much different compared to the rest of the series, the way the game uses the 3 day cycle is really good, it basically causes you to plan your every move, and execute it all in a timely manner, the cycle never feels too long or too short. The game uses this greatly with its story, while it is a lot simpler in premise compared to OOT, but it uses this simplicity to flesh out the world, the characters, and the side quests.
Speaking of the side quests, this game definitely has the overall best in the series, the amount of great stuff you can do off to the side is just incredible, Romani ranch and the Anju and Kafei quests are the highlights, I can almost say it’s just necessary to do them when playing this game, and thanks to the notebook, you can keep track of every character’s schedules, which greatly adds to the whole planning and three day cycle routine. These side quests also really help flesh out the world, and what a world it is.
Termina is a far greater overworld than the ones most of the other games have, it’s not too big so it’s easy to travel around and comes packed with a lot of content, I also lobe how unique each section is compared to other Zelda games, the swamp takes elements from kokiri forest but it builds on them and does a lot of things on its own, snowhead is probably the only big mountain area in the series that doesn’t include a volcano, great bay is fun to swim around in with the Zora mask, and ikana canyon is one of my favorite locations in the entire series, the dark atmosphere, tone, the music, all are wonderfully dead.
I have been forgetting to mention it in my other reviews, but the soundtrack in this series is phenomenal, and even better in this game. Let me talk about a few of these tracks, starting with the clock town theme, on the first day, the music is more festive, not a care in the world that a moon is hurdling towards earth, it’s very much a warm welcome in the form or music, the second day is more laid back, being more relaxed and less festive, and it even has a tiny hint of worry, now it feels like the moon is noticed but only thought about a little, the third day however is far more sinister, the music is fast and kinda messy, it’s like the music is freaking out and panicking, along with it is some evil sounding synths playing in the background, all throughout the day, the moon has definitely been noticed by now, and of course, the final hours, my god that score is a 10/10, it truly feels hopeless, you’re not panicking anymore, you’re just accepting fate, it is masterful. I’d also like to talk about the individual area themes, all of them are kinda the same, but many different sounds and notes make them all feel different, the swamp has a more serene feel, you kinda feel gross listening to it, perfectly representing the poisoned swamps, the mountains are more tame, and feel more winter like, obviously representing the frozen mountains, the great bay feels far more tropical, but like, tropical while a thunderstorm is fucking up the area, which obviously represents the polluted waters, then you have ikana canyon, my god, every single little note in this version has been made far more haunting than the ones before, then once the main chorus comes on, it truly feels dead and lifeless (in a good way obviously), but even through all the dreariness you hear little notes of Romani/Malon’s singing, representing the little hope that is still left with the girl and her father there…….what a pleasant area :). One last song I’d like to mention is the song of healing, it’s a simple short track that kinda perfectly represents what this game is, it’s a somber tune, one that’s very sad sounding, which makes sense considering what it’s used for.
Alright let’s talk about all the dark shit, how about Epona being dead, oh you think Epona’s fine? Skull kid simply put her in Romani ranch, a loving home for a horse? NOPE, Skull kid 100% killed the real Epona and the one you see later is just the termina counterpart, I know it’s a theory technically but the fact the game STARTS OFF with this is crazy, and it doesn’t stop there, Southern swamp? FUCKING POTENTIAL WAR, Snowpeak? ICE AGE, great bay? POLLUTED AND BABIES THAT HAVE BEEN KIDNAPPED, ikana canyon? THE DEAD CAN’T REST.
What I’m basically saying is there’s tons of dark stuff all throughout the game, but the most impressive part is how the game balances them extremely well and it never really feels like it’s in your face, the game just has a natural way of delivering it, in fact let’s go over a few of my favorite dark moments from this game.
The implication and realization of the deku butler’s son, unlike everything else in the game, he’s the one thing you can’t save.
“They” from Romani Ranch, a completely unexplainable enemy in the series, it’s especially fucked up what they potentially do to Romani, part of me wants to know what they did but a bigger part of me never even wants to think about it.
The little girl and her father in ikana canyon, both of them alone and afraid, completely surrounded by the dead as one of them is slowly turning into one of the monsters outside.
There is more, but I’ve gone on long enough.
I think what balances all the darkness out is that, you can help almost everyone in this game, you can cure the poison of the swamp and stop the war, you can bring spring back to snowhead, you can bring clean waters and rescue the babies in great bay, you can lay the dead to rest in ikana canyon, you can protect the ranch from “them”, you can save the girl’s father in ikana, you can do almost everything………..but, no matter what victory you achieve, what life you save, you’re always reminded of one constant thing no matter where you are at in the world, all you need to do is look at the bottom of the screen, or hear the bells of the clock tower, or of course, look up, and you’ll see it.
The moon, the end of the world, the fate that you must stop in order to save everyone, no one will truly be safe unless you stop this thing from hurdling towards termina, and the game makes you just feel helpless against it for like 90% of the game, always turning back time any time it gets close to those final hours…………..until you play a certain song, an oath to order.
This is one of my favorite scenes in not only this entire series, but in video games in general, the camera shows us the moon hurdling towards termina, hopeless as it has been the rest of the game………….then a somberly triumphant theme starts playing, it swells up as one giant appears, then two, then three, then four, and finally, once they’re all there, they put their full power and strength into holding the moon, and after a struggle………….it stops, the one threat that has been haunting you throughout every mission………stopped……….OR SO YOU THINK.
Majora’s Mask is its own being bitch, it flies up into the moon and then the moon starts moving again, but you triumphantly step into the moon, no more will you hide from this mask, you take the fight DIRECTLY TO ITS BASE, DIRECTLY TO THE………the………nice tree and open field?
I’m gonna admit, I obviously didn’t get this on my original playthrough, and I still don’t know now……….anyways, this leads to a final battle with the mask itself, and the fight is pretty fun, I mean it’s not ganondorf in OOT and the fight is basically trivialized by the fierce deity’s mask, but it’s a cool fight, the game isn’t really too strong in the boss department, everything else is just so spectacular that the boss aspect kinda falters.
After beating Majora, the moon disappears into the sky, the giants leave, and everyone celebrates.
It’s a dawn of a new day.
Link leaves termina as everyone there celebrates, including many musical performances, a fun time at the carnival, and of course, a wedding……….link is last seen in the lost woods, and finally continues off to find his old friend……………and he’s sadly never seen again.
And that is Majora’s Mask, a far more unique game than most, it was really fun to replay, and it’s still just as mesmerizing and beautifully dark as I remember, I hope one day I can write a longer and more in-depth review than this one, cause this game is just so good, it’s one of my two favorite Zelda games, and the other one? Well…
Next up is Wind Waker, very excited to replay this one, I just adore the art style so much man.